The Hero's Interregnum
by Weapon-X13
Summary: The story of how Link affected everyone in Hyrule by accidentally allowing Ganondorf into the Sacred Realm. Based mostly on the games (any dialogue straight from the game is not changed) and some ideas taken from the manga. (Rated T because chances are there will be some violence at the same level as there is in-game. Coarse language: none).
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

7 years. The Hero of Time's soul slumbered in the Sacred Realm for 7 years. So much chaos erupted during that time. Some of it easily remedied, some of it forever scarred onto the land.

It's hard to truly blame the Hero for what he unleashed on the land by accidentally allowing Ganondorf into the Sacred Realm. Few do blame him out loud. But in almost everyone's hearts, they blame the Hero for all the suffering they endured and the loved ones they lost.

Some of this story took place before the Door to the Sacred Realm opened. Most of it is after.

This is the story of what happened to all of those who live in the land of Hyrule.


	2. The First Departure

**Chapter 1: The First Departure**

**The Kokiri**

"He's gone!" the Kokiri boy cried.

"'Gone'? Who? What do you mean, 'gone'?" the boy by Mido's house called.

"Link! He pushed past me and went on the bridge! I think he was leaving the forest!" The boy cried out. Many of the other Kokiri started making their way over, talking in hushed tones. The Know-It-All Brothers were already discussing what answer to give to the troubled children.

"Good riddance that he's gone!" a voice cried. Everyone silenced and, one by one, turned to see Mido. "Yeah, you heard me! It's a good thing he's gone! You saw what he did to the Deku Tree! He killed him!"

"How do you know Link killed him?" cried one of the twins. "We all know the Deku Tree is old. Maybe he called Link to an audience to tell him that he was dying and to ask Link to lead us."

"That's ridiculous!" one of the brothers called. The twin shrank behind her sister.

"Hmph! Why would the Great Deku Tree _ever _make Link head of the Forest when I already am the leader?" Mido replied angrily.

"Well, you've never been called on by the Deku Tree…you're not even the oldest…" said the boy who had been tasked with pulling the weeds by Saria's house.

"Why don't we ask Saria what Link said to her rather than bickering," said a low voice. Fado, near the back of the circle, was standing next to a pale-faced Saria. Fado whispered quietly to Saria and patted her on the back, slowly pushing her more into the circle. Everyone turned to look at her.

"Well, uhm, Link came running onto the bridge and I caught his attention. I told him I knew he would leave someday because he was different than us." Saria began to tremble slightly, and her fairy started making slower, tighter circles around her head. "But I said everything was OK, because we'd be friends forever." Tears began to fall from her eyes. "I gave him an ocarina and asked him to come visit us. A-and then…then he just ran away." The tears began to fall faster. Mido began to move toward her and tried to touch her shoulder. Saria shrunk back. "You! It's _your _fault! If you hadn't yelled at him…and told him it was his fault the tree was dead…he wouldn't have left!" In a moment of unchecked anger, she pushed him away from her. He fell back against other Kokiri, who made no effort to catch him as he fell. Saria, now fully sobbing, cried, "He's going to die out there! And it's _all _of your faults!" She quickly ran towards the entrance to the Lost Woods, her fairy struggling to keep up.

The Kokiri slowly started to return to their usual spots. The Know-It-All Brothers disappeared into their home, guessing how long Link would survive and whether he would come back. The Twins wiped a few tears from their eyes, and the shopkeeper hustled away, mumbling about how his only customer was now gone. Eventually the only two left were Mido, still on the ground, and Fado.

"Well? Are you going to help me up?" Mido asked sorely. Fado looked at him disgustedly as she passed on her way back to the pillars.


	3. A Brief Return

**Chapter 2: A Brief Return**

**The Kokiri**

The floating magic particles in the air broke.

Saria took her ocarina away from her lips and looked around. The particles in the Lost Woods were separate from the ones in the Kokiri Forest; they did not break when they did. Someone had entered the Lost Woods.

"Link…" she whispered, hoping it was him. Her fairy made a slight twinkling noise. "That is true…they break when someone enters. They might not be to the maze…maybe it's not him." She sighed and brought her ocarina back to her lips. She went back to playing the song that was felt in one's heart and led them through the entrance the first time they entered the Lost Woods. She named it after herself, since she was the only Kokiri that she knew of to have braved the Woods. Sure, others had come to the Woods, but they had become lost and turned into Stalfos Children.

After a few minutes, she heard the dying squeak of the two Deku scrubs that stood in the straightaway before the Meadow. She continued to play ocarina, trying to stay relaxed. Moments later, Link stood in front of her. She slowly laid her ocarina on her lap.

"I've been waiting for you, Link!" she said, more excitedly than she meant to. "This is the Sacred Forest Meadow. It's my secret place! I feel…" Saria stopped. She was going to tell him about how the Forest comforted her and possibly hint at how it barely helped when he left. But suddenly something came over her. "This place will be very important for both of us someday. That's what I feel. If you play the Ocarina here, you can talk with the spirits in the forest." She hesitated slightly. "Would you like to play the Ocarina with me?" He nodded slightly, still having not spoken.

Saria placed her hands back around her ocarina in playing position. "OK, try to follow the melody I will play. Are you ready?" He reached for his ocarina, so she brought hers back to her lips. She began to play the beginning of the song, the part she played most. F, A, B; F, A, B. She smirked slightly to herself. She always thought it funny that the first three notes of the song spelled out "fab", like "fabulous". She noticed he was still watching her, so she played the part again.

Link brought the fairy ocarina to his lips and thought about the fingerings. After a moment, he covered all the left holes and placed his right pointer finger on the leftmost hole of the right set. After playing the F, he removed his right pointer and left ring finger and played the A. after another moment of thought, he removed his middle finger and played the B. He did it again, slightly faster this time. She could almost hear the process clicking for him. He played it again, this time the same speed as she had and even completed the next part of the melody. Saria brought her ocarina away from her mouth, softly set it on the stump to her right and giggled.

"Great! Great! Please don't forget this song! Do you promise?" she practically begged him. "When you want to hear my voice, play Saria's Song. You can talk with me anytime…" She trailed off, noticing he wasn't paying attention. He had taken the ocarina away from his lips and was staring at it has small sparkles danced around it. He then put it away in his pouch, turned around, and ran off. Navi, who had been twirling above their heads with Saria's fairy, jumped and shot off after him.

"Link? Link!" Saria cried. Once more, he had left without a word to her. She dropped her head into her hands and sobbed as her fairy twirled slowly above her head.


End file.
